


Twilight Moonbeams

by smvtslvt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 19:32:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8114782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smvtslvt/pseuds/smvtslvt
Summary: When Ginny took a job at her brothers' shop, she expected practical jokes. She did not, however, expect Draco Malfoy.





	

“Do me a favor, would you?” Ron was at her side as Ginny wrapped up a trick wand for a boy about thirteen. She felt his imploring gaze but knew better than to get distracted when handling product. It only took one boxing telescope induced black eye to learn that lesson. 

“Do be careful,” she smiled softly at the young customer, handing him his new package, “Wouldn't want the wand to backfire on you, now, would you?”

“Thanks, missus!” the boy smiled gleefully, all but running out the door, leaving the bell dancing loudly in his wake. 

“Missus?” Ginny finally turned her attention to her brother, her lips down turned in a pout, “am I really that old?”

“Aye, you're gettin Mum’s crows feet,” Ron teased, jabbing a finger towards her temple. 

Ginny gasped, landing a sharp blow to her brother’s chest. “You're horrid at asking for favors, Ronald Weasley!” 

“George!” he yelled, shrinking to block her string of attacks, “tell Gin to stop messing about and do her job!” 

There seemed to be a moment of calculated thought from the back room before the eldest shouted back, “deck him good, Gin!”

“Fine,” Ron grumped, though not with any severity, “I'll just do it myself!” He finally escaped her barrage of blows to make his way to the front of the shop. With one hand, he flipped the welcome sign to ‘go away,’ his other reaching up to silence the still clattering entrance bell. “George wants us in the back for a family meeting.”

“Family meeting or employee meeting?”

Ron shrugged. “What's the difference?”

Ginny had been working at the joke shop going on three months now. It was meant to be a part time job while she trained for quidditch, but while she would never admit it, Ginny quite liked working with her brothers. They had a good dynamic going and she was all too excited, seeing smiles on the customers’ faces - even if they did think her ancient. Weasleys Wizard Wheezes was the perfect place for her at this point in her life. 

She followed Ron to the back of the store, George’s office and unofficial workshop, to find their brother tinkering with some sort of potion at his desk. A framed painting of Fred mocked his twin with exaggerated movements and a doofy smile behind his back. 

“What's up?” Ron asked, leaning against the doorframe. Ginny followed suit just inside the wall, eyeing her brother’s memory with a nostalgic smile. 

“So we're about to hit peak season,” George began, all pleasantries aside. He hardly even looked up from his work. “With everyone going back to school, I was considering hiring extra help.”

“You're kind of tapped on available siblings,” Ron observed, “what with Bill and Charlie having actual jobs.”

“And Percy being more serious than Mum on the Anglia,” Ginny added, earning a snort from the twins. 

“Ronald Weasley!” mimicked Fred’s painting, “how DARE you steal that car!” 

She joined in, giggling, “your father and I are ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED!” until George was laughing too hard to shush them properly. 

The color still hadn't returned to Ron’s face when George finally started speaking. “I'm afraid our solution isn't much better than Perc.” 

The two employees exchanged a sidelong glance. This serious tone was quite unlike their brother. 

“Harry came to me a while back, with this redemption program idea. You know, for those folks who - found innocent, mind you - maybe just got tangled up in the wrong side of the war.”

Ginny didn't like where this was going. Hell, it was obvious that no one did, even George struggled with the words, as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying. But Ginny seemed to be the one openly scoffing at the idea. 

‘Tangled up’ in the wrong side, as if the world had so many shades of gray. She had quite literally lost herself to wrong side and had still come back to fight. As far as Ginny was concerned, this was a black and white matter. 

George could see her anger festering. He held out his hand to keep her at bay. “Harry believes if we get these people back in the public eye as contributing members of society, they have the potential to actually be so.”

“Who?” Ron asked softly, as if he was trying to give the idea some consideration. This was so unlike Ron’s short fuse. Who were these men and what had they done with her brothers?

“Draco Malfoy.”

Letting out a loud, cackling laugh, Ginny doubled over. For a second, they had nearly gotten her. She'd been waiting since the day she started at the joke shop for her initiation prank and the time had finally come. “Ha!” she squawked, “that’s rich!”

“I'm thrilled you're looking forward to it, then.” A smooth drawl drifted in from the doorway, stopping Ginny dead in her tracks. He sounded as far from thrilled as she felt. 

In one fluid motion, Ginny had hooked her hand around her brother’s elbow, pulling him from the doorway to take his place. “Sorry,” she pulled the door tight around her, blocking out this new intruder, “the office is for employees only.”

Draco’s steel gaze drifted down her body like fog. From his silver hair to his charcoal oxfords, everything about this man was a shade of gray. “Well I suppose it's a good thing I work here then, hmn?”

“Sorry,” she countered with a tight-lipped smile, “family meeting.” And before he had a retort, she was closing the door in his face. 

“Gin,” George warned, trying to catch his sister before she rounded on him, but he was too late. 

“No,” she spoke firmly, rushing forward to slam her open palm on his desk. “No way!”

The potion sloshed under her force, leaving a charred smell hanging in the office as the liquid ate through the varnish of George’s desk. 

“You can't think this is a good idea!” When he didn't respond, too busy righting the wobbly cauldron, Ginny turned her attention to Ron. “Please,” she pleaded, “tell him this is terrible.”

“Look, Gin,” Ron raked a hand through disheveled orange hair, “I don't like Malfoy as much as the next Gryffindor, but if Harry thinks he's got some good in him, I think we should give him a chance. We’ll really need the help when you get drafted.”

“Fine!” Ginny felt near hysteric, “I won't do Quidditch this year! I'll stay here and work overtime and we won't need his help!”

“Merlin,” Ron chided, “listen to yourself. Don't be ridiculous.” 

She couldn't believe her ears. Ridiculous? Ridiculous was her family believing this snake was a good person just because he had the common sense to jump a sinking ship at the last second. Ridiculous was George deciding these things without talking with his staff. Ridiculous was Ron following Harry blindly. 

“This isn't up for discussion,” George said with enough finality to make Ginny slink back against the wall in defeat. Fred drug a mocking finger across his throat up on the wall behind him, causing Ginny to snort out a dry chuckle. It was all she could do not to scream. 

“Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes wouldn't be alive today without Harry, so when he comes to me with a favor, you bet your arse I'm in. Let that be enough of a reason for you, Gin, because that's what I've got.”

“This is a mistake,” she grumbled, one final half-hearted attempt to get her brothers to see the truth. 

“Actually,” George piped up, his tone back to its usual playfulness, “I'm personally holding you responsible for making sure it's not a mistake. You get to train our new employee!” He took advantage of his sister’s slack-jawed loss for words to add, “alright, get back out there and open the shop!” 

“Ron,” Ginny pleaded as soon as the office door closed behind the pair. 

Draco stood against the wall, picking idly at a cuticle. He wore a dark dragonhide jacket in favor of robes and his trousers were neatly pressed. Though mere feet separated them, he seemed indifferent to the Weasleys’ presence. 

“No way, Gin,” Ron answered, shooting his new coworker a sidelong glance, “I'm off work. I'm going home.”

Before she could argue, her brother was gone, having turned and disapperated on the spot. 

“I'm all yours!” Draco kicked off the wall to fall in behind her, his voice full of false joy. 

Ginny could hardly contain an eye roll as she skulked up to the front of the store. “Flip the sign on the door,” she instructed, unable to keep a demanding edge from her voice, “make sure it's unlocked.”

“Yes, Virginia,” he replied, that same air of sarcastic duty in his tone. “Is it Virginia?”

“Ginerva, actually.” Her fingers slammed forcefully on the cash register, the drawer sliding open with a ping. “You can call me Weasley.”

Draco exhaled audibly through his nose, something someone who didn't know him might mistake for a chuckle. “You're all Weasleys. How am I supposed to tell you apart?”

Shuffling coins around in her hand, Ginny paused her counting to speak to Malfoy as if he was slow. “I'm the one with the long hair. Don't worry your pretty little head about the boys, you can just follow me around, hmm?”

“I quite like Ginerva,” he joined her on the other side of the counter, ignoring her insults. “What're we doing?”

She gestured down at the drawer. “Do you know how to count?”


End file.
